This section is about me! And also about you and your data. Please see my company data privacy policy, under the image of the two men opening the industrial doors.

I got my first camera at the age of 11 and started studying photography soon after, eventually taking a course at the London College of Printing. I went on from there to work in various London photographic labs where I met loads of great photographers, some of whom I went on to assist. It was during this time that I learnt my trade and gained a wealth of practical and technical experience. I also began to develop a long-term project, photographing people I met through their work, in their environments; from the local hardware shop to location shoots in far away places.

After positive feedback from design and advertising agencies, I started my business in 2001, telling stories for large corporates. Highlights have been working with Intercontinental Hotels, Pearson, Eurostar and National Grid, as well as closer to home with the London Development Agency and the London South Bank University.

I am passionately inquisitive about how the world goes around and the people I meet every day. Working with government agencies and large industrial, financial, transport and service companies has given me opportunities to photograph behind the scenes at some fascinating locations. My portrait work has also led to work with fantastic charities, communicating their key messages through the people they support.

My photographs have been selected for the Association of Photographers Awards, the Schweppes Photographic Portrait Prize and been exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery. I have also won numerous awards with my clients for our creative work together.

James Bell Photography Privacy Policy

This privacy policy sets out how James Bell Photography collects, uses, stores and protects any information that you give to us when you use my website at www.jamesbellphoto.com (“this website”).

This website is hosted by Squarespace and supported by them.

We are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information from which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy policy statement and with the requirements laid down by law in the Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998, The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations (PECR) 2003 and the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018. James Bell Photography is the data controller and responsible for your personal data (“we” “us” “our” in this privacy notice]. Our contact details are set out below. We are registered as a data controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office under registration number A8324919. We may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from 22/05/2018

It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us.

We do not collect any special categories of data.

The legal basis for processing your data

We collect this data from you on at least one of the following legal bases:

In the case that you have provided your explicit opt-in consent for us to do so.

In the case that we need to in order to fulfil our contractual obligations to you (which includes the provision of quotations or estimates as a result of a request from you).

In the case of your corporate email address, that we have a legitimate interest in doing so for our own commercial marketing activities and activities related to customer satisfaction and product development and service improvement where our use of your data is proportionate, has a minimal impact on your privacy and is promotes an activity that you might reasonably expect us to be engaged in.

How is your data collected?

We use different methods to collect data from and about you, including through:

Direct interactions with you when you fill in a form or correspond with us by post, phone, email or otherwise;

Third parties for example where we have purchased a mailing list;

Automated technologies or interactions, for example as you interact with this website we may automatically collect technical data about your equipment, browsing actions and patterns or by using cookies. Please see below for more information on how this website uses cookies.

What we do with the information we gather

We use, store and process this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular, for the following reasons:

Internal record-keeping and to administer any account(s) that you might have with us.

We may use the information for our legitimate business interests to improve our products and services to you.

We may periodically send promotional emailsabout new products or services, special offers or other information which we think you may find interesting using the email address which you have provided and given us consent to use or, where you have provided us with a corporate email address, for our legitimate interests (as described above), provided you have not unsubscribed.

From time to time, we may also use your information to contact you for our own market research and survey purposes. We may contact you by email, phone, fax or post but only in accordance with your express and explicit consent for such contact. We may also use the information for our internal business purposes and legitimate interests of improving customer satisfaction to customise our website(s) according to your interests to provide you with a better experience.

How long do we keep your personal information for?

We will only retain your personal information for the minimum time that is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected. In relation to financial and transactional data this will be for a period of approximately 7 years after the date of the transaction.

Controlling your personal information – your rights

You may choose at any time to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:

Whenever you are asked to fill in a form on our website(s), look for the box or boxes that you can choose to tick to indicate that you agree or opt-in, so that the information can be used by us for direct marketing purposes – if you don’t agree then don’t tick.

Right to withdraw consent, data retention and the right to be forgotten - If you have previously agreed to us using your personal information or we are using your contact details for our legitimate interests for direct-marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by writing to or emailing us at: mail@jamesbellphoto.com. We will comply with your request within one month of receiving it. Please note, there may be certain circumstances such as a legal obligation we may have, that mean the right to be forgotten (your right to have your data erased) cannot be implemented but we will inform you of this should you contact us on this basis.

Right of data portability – You have the right to request a copy of the data that you provided us with in order that you can reuse it for your own purposes across different services. This right is only applicable if you have given us explicit consent to process your data or if we have used it for the performance of any contract(s) we may have (had) with you. If you wish to do this, please write to or email us at [: mail@jamesbellphoto.com. We will provide the information in a commonly used and machine-readable format free of charge.

Right of access to your data - You may request details of personal information which we hold about you. If you would like a copy of the information held on you please write to or email us at : mail@jamesbellphoto.com. You will not need to pay a fee to access your personal data.

Right to rectification of inaccurate data - If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to or email us at : mail@jamesbellphoto.com. as soon as possible. We will promptly rectify any information found to be incorrect.

Right to object to processing of your data – You have a right to object to us using your data for marketing under the basis of ‘legitimate interests’ and if you wish to do so, please contact us at : mail@jamesbellphoto.com.

Disclosures of your personal data

We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so. We may use your personal information to send you promotional information about third parties which we think you may find interesting but only if you tell us that you wish this to happen.

We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

International Transfers

We do not transfer or give access to your personal data outside the European Economic Area.If we do, for example, for website support, we ensure that data is secure and transferred using Wetransfer.

Security

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. To prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online. All your information is stored either electronically on our Squarespace secure servers or in the case of paper documentation, in secured cabinets only accessible by us or our staff or those nominated by the Data Controller as Data Processors. We limit access to your personal data to those employees and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

In the event of any data security breach, we will comply with our legal responsibilities to notify the applicable regulator and you as outlined in the applicable legislation.

Any password(s) which you might use to access our website or other platforms that are operated by us using third-party providers are your own responsibility and you undertake not to share them with anyone else, save as to making provisions in your will. If you believe your password(s) has/have been compromised, you must inform us straightaway and change it.

Complaints

If you have reason to make a complaint, then you should contact us in writing as soon as possible at : mail@jamesbellphoto.com

How we use cookies on our website(s)

A cookie is a small text file which asks permission to be placed on your computer's hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

We may use traffic-log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web-page traffic and improve our website(s) in order to tailor it to users’ needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and the data is then removed from the system.Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website experience, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of our website(s).

Links to other websites

Our website(s) may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave this website, you should be aware that we do not have any control over those other websites. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.